Sir Samuel Hood and the Battle of the Chesapeake

Colin Pengelly

Publication Year: 2009

The Siege of Yorktown--the military engagement that ended the American Revolutionary War--would not have been possible without the French fleet's major strategic victory in the Battle of the Chesapeake on September 5, 1781. It was during this battle that British fleets lost control of the Chesapeake Bay and the supply lines to the major military base at Yorktown, Virginia. As a direct result, General George Washington's forces and the newly arrived French troops were able to apply the pressure that finally broke the British army.

Sir Samuel Hood (1724-1816) was one of the commanders of the British fleet off the Virginia Capes during the American Revolution. Responsibility for some of the missed opportunities and gaffes committed by the British during the bloody Battle of the Chesapeake can be traced to him, specifically his failure to bring his squadron into action at a key moment in the action. Afterward, Hood defended his actions by arguing that ordering his ships to attack would have contradicted the orders sent to him by battle flag. Hood largely escaped blame, which was assigned to Rear Admiral Graves, who commanded the fleet.

Though Hood's inaction arguably resulted in the loss of the American colonies, he ultimately rose to command the Mediterranean fleet. Colin Pengelly engages the details of this battle as no other historian and sifts through Hood's own propaganda to determine how he escaped subsequent blame.

Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Contents

Foreword

Water is unquestionably the most important natural feature on earth. By
volume the world’s oceans compose 99 percent of the planet’s living space;
in fact, the surface of the Pacific Ocean alone is larger than that of the total
land bodies. Water is as vital to life...

Acknowledgments

The origins of this book go back to my earlier research into the life of Lord
Hood. It was a long-nurtured project to convert that research into a book.
When Paul Wilderon of the United States Naval Institute Press considered
my partially finished manuscript..

Introduction

The second battle of the Chesapeake (or the second battle of the Virginia
Capes, as it is known in the United States) was fought on the fifth of September
1781. On the British side were the combined squadrons of Rear Admiral
Sir Thomas Graves,1 Sir Samuel Hood...

1. Hood’s Early Career

Samuel Hood came from a long-established Dorset family with their roots
in South Perrott and Mosterton in the southwest of England. The family had
farmed there in the time of Henry VIII. His father, also Samuel, was vicar
of Butleigh, a village in Somerset...

2. The Frigate Captain

The appointment as post captain brought Samuel Hood to one of the most
active and successful phases of his professional career. His return coincided
with the court-martial of Admiral John Byng, about to take place at Portsmouth.
Admiral Smith was president...

3. The Commodore

Hood was not immediately offered a further command after the war. He
could not live comfortably off his own means and could not therefore contemplate
for long a life on half-pay. He asked for an appointment to one of
the guard ships at Portsmouth...

4. The Commissioner

On Hood’s return from North America there was a dispute with Spain over
the Falkland Islands, and at one time it looked like it might result in a war.
The crisis had been provoked by the belief in France and Spain that Britain
had lost the will and power...

5. The Other Side of the Channel

For the government of France, this was a time of preparing for conflict. The
king, Louis XVI, had succeeded to the throne in 1774 at the age of nineteen.
The diplomatic situation between Britain and France was delicate. While
French representatives in Britain...

6. The Flag Officer

Prior to Hood’s arrival Rodney had returned from North America wanting
to undertake some action against the French islands. There were only four
French sail of the line in the area, at Martinique, and Rodney agreed with
General Vaughan1 to make an attempt..

7. The Chesapeake: The Forces Gather

While the British fleet refitted at Barbados, de Grasse and the French fleet
arrived at Fort Royal on 18 June and began to prepare their ships for sea
again. The time was coming when the trade convoys of both sides would
have to be escorted to Europe...

8. The Chesapeake: The Battle Joined

When the British fleet was first seen approaching, the patrolling French
frigates were not immediately certain of their identity. The wind was blowing
from the north-northeast and de Grasse was signaled that ships were
coming from the north. De...

9. The World Turned Upside Down

The prospects for the British fleet were not entirely black. It is certain that
Graves had it in mind to engage the French the following day despite the
odds against him, as his disposition of the fleet attests. Captain Everitt of
the Solebay had hailed Saxton as Everitt...

10. The Rise and Fall of an Admiral

When Samuel Hood left New York to return to his station in the Leeward
Islands, he again assumed responsibility for the most important area for
British trade and wealth. For the eighteenth-century governments of Britain—
and France—the...

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